Portland second in CHL poll

The Portland Winterhawks remained second in the CHL poll behind the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. The Winterhawks, who will visit the Tri-City Americans on Saturday, have an impressive 20-4-0-1 record.

The Saskatoon Blades remained sixth in the poll, while the Kootenay Ice dropped from eighth to ninth.

The first 3,000 fans at the Seattle-Kootenay game on Saturday at ShoWare Center will receive a free Calvin Pickard bobble head. Calvin's mini statue has good positioning, but a good player could scored 5-hole on him.

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Former Americans goalie Alex Pechurskiy stopped 28 of 30 shots Wednesday to lead the Mississippi RiverKings to a 3-2 win over Wichita in the Central Hockey League. The 28 saves was respectable, but stopping 12 of 15 shots in the shootout was down right impressive.

In six games with the RiverKings, Alex is 3-2-0-0 with a 2.12 GAA and a .926 save percentage.